


You're the best medicine

by SteampunkWilson



Category: All Hail King Julien
Genre: Also Dr S should never be allowed to practise medicine ever, Dr S and Rob are dating but it's not really important, Established Relationship, Fluff, Hoo-ah!, Hospital, Hurt/Comfort, I don't think the violence is that graphic but I'll change the rating if people ask me to, Injury, Julien cares, M/M, Panchulien, So does Pancho, Sorry if it's OOC, Sounds super dark but I promise it isn't, Stabbing Mention, self indulge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-11
Updated: 2020-11-11
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:55:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,837
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27505681
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SteampunkWilson/pseuds/SteampunkWilson
Summary: Pancho wakes up in the hospital cave broken and bruised and with a creepy snake doctor poking at him. Apparently he was in a fight? He just wants his boyfriend to show up so he can know that everything's okay.
Relationships: Dr. S/Rob McTodd (All Hail King Julien), Horst & Pancho & Willie (All Hail King Julien), King Julien XIII & Pancho, King Julien XIII/Pancho
Comments: 1
Kudos: 13





	You're the best medicine

**Author's Note:**

> Summary kinda sucks, sorry.
> 
> This goes out as a coincidental birthday present to Bossi, have a great day and I hope you enjoy this :D

Pancho groaned as he slowly became conscious, struggling to squint his eyes open as a roaring pain started in his head. A few thoughts flitted through his mind, mostly along the lines of 'where am i?', 'why does everything hurt so much' and 'who is that staring at me?'.

Through the cracks of his eyelids, Pancho could just make out a blurry face hovering above his own, and as he struggled to open his eyes further, blinking to try and clear all the blurriness from his vision, the face moved and something cold was pressed to his forehead.

"Urgh, no!" Pancho tried to protest, but it came out sounding like an incomprehensible moan that hurt his throat and chest as it emerged. Pancho winced and decided to shut his eyes again.

"I think he's waking up!" There came a voice, familiar, but not familiar enough for him to remember, and Pancho groaned again, wanting to go back to sleep. "Nurse Phantom, go fetch Mister King Julien. He said he wanted to be here when he woke up." The voice said.

"On it!" Another voice echoed around Pancho's head, but he couldn't tell where it had come from. The mention of his boyfriend's name was enough to stir him back into wakefulness though, and he struggled to open his eyes again.

Above him was the face of the creepy snake doctor from the club moist cave.

Pancho let out a short yell, attempting to scramble backwards and away from the snake, but all that he managed to do was nudge his body a short distance, and cause a wave of agony to shoot through his entire body. He gave a sharp gasp of pain before he could stop himself.

"I implore you to lie still, Mister Pancho." Dr S purred, slithering to the side and out of Pancho's direct vision as the crowned lemur clutched his side and grimaced in pain.

"What did you do to me?" He demanded angrily, trying to sit up and get a better look at his vitals, but for some reason his head wouldn't move without feeling like a fossa was trying to rip it off. "I'm not afraid of you, you..." He trailed off, trying to think of a fitting insult, but everything just hurt too much. His voice was strange too, the words didn't seem to want to come out, and every time he opened his mouth it sent pain searing through his jaw. Pancho kept his mouth firmly closed for a few seconds, his mind racing in confusion. Even scarier, he noticed, something appeared to be attached to his side. Pancho clumsily tried to yank it off, his fingertips fumbling without their usual nimbleness.

"Oh I didn't do anything to hurt you. Not yet..." The creepy doctor answered before trailing off into an evil cackle before slithering back towards Pancho. "And I wouldn't touch that either, you might upset the stab wound."

"Stab wound!" Pancho exclaimed, managing to lift his head, only to emit a harsh (and embarrassingly high pitched) scream of pain as his muscles were put into action. Half of his body felt like it was on fire or being crushed by rocks, the other half wouldn't move, no matter how much he tried to, which was all the more troubling. "What happened to me?" Pancho demanded, his voice quivering, anxiety beginning to set in. He didn't like to be at the mercy of others, even if they were trying to help.

"Oh I don't know the specifics." The doctor said, slithering out of sight again, and Pancho felt the cold substance being removed from his forehead. "It is likely you were in a fight."

Pancho groaned, partly from the pain that was now crashing through his head, and party because it was a fight he had clearly lost. Struggling to get a hold of himself and his emotions, he said: "You said something about Juli- King Julien earlier? Was he there?" A sudden spike of panic ran through Pancho and he felt the urgent need to sit up. "Is he hurt-"

"Relax yourself." The doctor said from behind Pancho's head, making the lemur's skin crawl. "Mister King Julien is fine, he was merely upset to hear you had been injured, and wanted to be informed as soon as you woke up."

Pancho sighed in relief, that was one less thing to worry about. Wincing, he managed to turn his head in the snake doctor's direction and ask. "How bad did they get me then? Because I can't move my legs."

"Hmm." Dr S slithered until he was in front of Pancho, and made a quick movement with his tail. Pancho's leg seared in agony and he cried out.

"Did that hurt?" The doctor asked, staring down at him with a slight smile on his scaly lips.

"Ow! Yes!"

"Then you are not paralysed. That would have been a problem!" The snake doctor cackled again, his laugh ricocheting around the walls of the cave. "You will be able to move when you have your strength back."

Pancho bit his lip, anxiety still sparking in his chest. He was pretty sure the snake doctor had just stabbed him, and was now bandaging his leg like it was nothing! He didn't like this. He didn't like not being able to move or fight back or control what was happening to him. His heart was starting to beat faster and faster as he felt the onset of an anxiety attack forming, and since every breath he took hurt his lungs, this wasn't ideal.

"Oh, there's one more thing I should test for." The snake hissed, and Pancho felt something being attached to his shoulder. Before he could even open his mouth to voice any kind of question, he was hit by a huge spasm of pain, lighting up every fibre of his body with intense agony.

Pancho screamed again, he had given up trying to control that, and glared at Dr S, who had his tail wrapped around the switch on some kind of machine. "Sorry." The snake giggled. "I just needed to test your other muscles."

Pancho clenched his teeth and shut his eyes again, wondering if the doctor was planning on killing him, and if he did, hoping it would be quick.

"Hey! What do you think you are doing to the most handsomest lemur in the kingdom?!" A familiar voice cut through all his thoughts and all the pain, and Pancho opened his eyes again to be greeted by the sight of his mate, King Julien the thirteenth, standing at the mouth of the cave, paws on his hips and a frown on his face, Nurse Phantom hurrying to catch him up.

"Julio." Pancho sighed, all of his anxiety instantly cooling and somehow, the pain in his body somehow receding too. He rested his head on the cold frame of the bed again, feeling reassurance wash over him like a wave.

"Nurse Phantom." Dr S turned to greet his fellow practitioner with a smile on his face. "It is a pity you didn't come sooner, I was just warming him up for some shock duty!" He giggled manically

"What, no!" Julien appeared in Pancho's field of vision again, looking visibly angry. "You can't be practising your freaky experiments on my boyfriend! Use Willie instead."

Dr S hung his head, looking disappointed. "Fine. I will asses his injuries for you." He hissed, and slithered away, out of Pancho's sight again, not that Pancho cared. There were now far prettier things to look at.

Julien turned to Pancho, his expression of anger changing into a soft smile as he smoothed a paw over Pancho's forehead. Pancho leaned into the contact, relieved to see the compassion in someone's face, relieved that at least someone cared that he was okay.

"Are you okay?" Julien asked softly as the snake and his assistant rattled around in the background. "Whatever that mean snake doctor did to you-"

"I'm fine Julio." Pancho smiled back at him, and winced suddenly as a prodding to his ribs from Nurse Phantom sent a spasm of pain shooting through his body. "I think."

Julien breathed out in a sigh of relief as he planted a small kiss to Pancho's forehead. Butterflies flickered in Pancho's stomach and he smiled, Julien's kisses were just so irresistible, no matter the circumstances. As Julien smoothed his paw over Pancho's forehead, Pancho breathed in and out in time with the strokes, finally able to ignore most of the pain radiating from his many wounds.

"What happened?" He asked Julien. Julien grimaced slightly.

"I don't know, I was woken up from my beauty sleep by Willie, who said he and Horst had brought you here because you got your ass kicked defending my honour, which is really sweet of you, but also totally not cool because I was so worried man!"

Pancho winced and wracked his brains for any memory of this. The last thing he could remember was accepting an invitation to go out for the night with Willie and Horst to a new bar out of the kingdom. Everything else was an incomprehensible blur.

"Was Willie okay?" Was all he could ask.

Julien shrugged indifferently, and continued stroking Pancho's head.

"He seemed very shaken up when they brought you in." Nurse Phantom cut in. "Interrupting our date night while they were at it." He slurped and wiped his mouth.

Dr S tutted in the nurse's direction and scooped up some tools with his tail.

"Well it's a good thing they did!" Julien glared towards Nurse Phantom before returning his gaze to his mate, tail bristling intensely. Pancho chuckled slightly, ignoring the ache that came from his ribs as he did so. Julien smiled at him again his smile radiant as always. Pancho let out a happy sigh before he could stop himself, already feeling a lot more reassured.

That was until Dr S did something that sent a wave of agony through Pancho's leg. Already annoyed that the doctor had given him another unnecessary wound, Pancho sat up with an angered growl, ready to grab whatever was nearest and throw it, only for his ribs to sear in pain at the sudden movement. Pancho gasped and clutched his side instead, the room spinning and everyone's voices beginning to fade and smash together in the background. The sound of blood rushing in his ears and the throbbing pain coming from his side began to overtake everything else as the cave around him descended into chaos. Dr S was yelling something, Nurse Phantom was picking up various medical instruments and Julien was completely freaking out. Pancho felt someone's hands on his shoulder's, forcing him to lay back down again. He didn't do much to fight against it, there wasn't much he could do, every muscle in his body was on fire at once and he was extremely close to passing out.

"Hold him down, Mister King Julien!" He heard Dr S say as he fought to stay conscious. He could hear Julien's voice saying something, arguing with the doctor he guessed from the tone. He didn't care, the hands on his shoulder's definitely did not belong to his mate and he fiercely struggled against whoever was gripping him.

"Please try to calm down Mister Pancho." Dr S hissed. "Or this will hurt a lot more than I intend!"

Pancho couldn't and wouldn't stop struggling. He wanted out of here, he wanted the pain to stop. Faintly, he heard Julien say his name, the sound ringing in his ears. The pain spiralling from his ribcage grew more and more intense until it became too much. Pancho groaned as everything suddenly faded to black.

...

When he woke up again, everything still hurt, but a lot less. Pancho found he could open his eyes without his head aching too much, but he could hardly see anything. He frowned and glanced from side to side, trying to look for any form of movement, but there was nothing but darkness and a few indistinguishable shapes. Pancho blinked a few times, but it made no difference. Cringing in confusion, he braced himself and turned his head.

There was a faint twinge from his muscles, but nothing more. Pancho breathed out in relief. At least that part of the nightmare was over. He attempted to shift himself upwards a little, but a spasm of pain that radiated from his side told him that wasn't going to happen. Pancho bit his lip and glanced about, feeling a slight anxiety forming in his chest. He couldn't move and he couldn't tell where he was, not even what he was lying on, though it felt a lot comfier than the medical bed in the hospital. Feeling a slight panic set it, Pancho's breaths quickened as he began to feel progressively more freaked out.

Suddenly, something touched his face and Pancho flinched violently, jolting himself upright. He shoved whoever was there away with a pained gasp as his entire body twinged with the sudden movement.

"Whoa, it's just me!" A familiar voice came from the darkness, and there came the sound of a candle being lit. Light flooded into Pancho's vision and he sighed with relief as he saw Julien's face hovering slightly above his own.

"Ah, sorry babe." He said, settling himself back down on what he now realised was the couch in his hut. "I thought you were that crazy snake doctor."

Julien smirked a little, but his eyes were shining with relief. "Gross, as if." He remarked, helping Pancho rest his head on the arm of the sofa again. "After he fixed whatever was wrong with your chest I made them bring you here so I can be the one to do all that nursing stuff. I thought you might prefer that." Julien's tail flicked from side to side, dangling over the edge of the couch, as the king returned his paw to Pancho's forehead, gently brushing his fingertips through the crowned lemur's fur.

Pancho breathed out slowly as comfort and familiarity radiated through his body with every brush of Julien's fingers against his forehead. Now that the room around him was no longer shrouded in darkness, he could see clearly that he was in his own home with Julien sprawled across the back of the couch above him, and no longer lying on that creepy cold medical bed in the cave. The gentle and loving brushes of Julien's paws and tail grounded him and reminded him that, wherever he had been, he was here and he was safe now. He smiled up at Julien, causing his mate to hum slightly in response.

"What did the doc say?" Pancho asked after a while of comfortable silence, very aware of the nagging pains still coming from his injuries and how he still couldn't sit up properly. Julien winced slightly in response, his amber eyes glancing down towards Pancho's torso, reminded Pancho that he hadn't got a good look yet. Biting his lip, Pancho shifted his head upwards so he could get a good look at his body, bracing himself for the worst.

It wasn't bad. Or at least, it wasn't horrific. There were a few bruises scattered across his torso, some much more visible than others, and a few scrapes here and there. A bandage was wound around his right leg, reminding him to go blow up Dr S at the earliest opportunity. The most alarming part was a large sticky bandage that was plastered tightly to his side between his ribs and hip, presumably covering whatever stab wound he had obtained.

"I dunno, something about broken ribs, deep wounds and being lucky to survive." Julien was saying softly, but Pancho could hear the worry in his voice. "He also said he'd send Nurse Phantom to do daily checkups and things, so that's going to suck."

Pancho nodded in agreement, his brow furrowing in annoyance towards the two medical practitioners. Julien picked up on his tension, and swiftly traced his fingers along the darker stripe of fur on Pancho's head, just the way he liked. Pancho crooned softly, temporarily forgetting his anger and nuzzling into Julien' touch.

Julien seemed to stiffen and, much to Pancho's disappointment, he hopped off the couch and stretched his arms up above his head. "Do you need anything?" He asked, glancing swiftly down at Pancho.

Pancho shrugged and winced as he remembered a lot of his bones were still broken. "Water maybe?" He said. Julien smiled at him and went in search of Pancho's water supply. Pancho began to feel a little uncomfortable again, this was his house, yet he was stuck here unable to do all the stuff he had been able to do for himself a day ago, and he missed Julien's touch already. The ringtail had disappeared into the surrounding darkness of the hut, reminding Pancho that it was still nighttime outside.

Or maybe a different nighttime. How long had be been out?

Pancho chuckled fondly as he heard several crashes from various areas of his hut, Julien obviously struggling to find anything in the dark. It was kind of nice to have someone looking after him, someone who wasn't a giant cobra who kept trying to injure him further at least. Julien appeared finally, a cup of water in his hands and a disgruntled expression on his face. Pancho chuckled slightly in amusement as he took the cup and raised it up towards his mouth to take a sip.

He then caught sight of his reflection.

"Oh." Was all he could say. He now understood why smiling hurt, and winced instead at the sight of his own face. Both of his eyes were bruised, no wonder he hadn't been able to see clearly earlier, and his nose looked... different, different in a way that Pancho sincerely hoped was not permanent. There were faint traces of a scar on his muzzle, which wasn't ideal either. Wincing, Pancho mentally cursed whoever had done this to him. Still wincing, he glanced up at Julien.

Julien glanced back and bit his lip slightly. "It's not awful." He said, suddenly avoiding Pancho's gaze. Pancho shook his head slightly and took a few sips of the water, deciding that his looks were a problem for another day. Julien perched on the arm of the sofa next to his head and swung his tail back and forth anxiously.

"I don't know-" He started, but cut himself off. Pancho frowned up at him.

"What is it?" He asked, glancing up at his boyfriend. Julien was shifting uncomfortably in his seat, glancing back and forth between Pancho and the wall. "You can tell-"

"You don't just get to do that man!" Julien exploded suddenly. Pancho almost spilled the water in surprise, and watched as the ringtail leapt off the sofa arm and paced anxiously across the floor in front of him. "I thought you were fine, but then I got woken up by Willie knocking on my door, covered in your BLOOD and saying that you were in the hospital! Because you challenged a guy who was saying mean stuff about me?! By the way that guy was probably related to Vigman from what Horst said, real tough opponent, which just made it even more dangerous! You got hurt, Pancho! You could have died! And I would have-" Julien cut himself off abruptly and sniffed, wiping his eyes with his paws. "You scared me, and as your king I order you to never scare me like that again!" He sniffed again and quickly covered his face with his hands.

Pancho just watched, feeling more and more uncomfortable and upset with every word. The wound in his side twinged in pain and his soul twinged with guilt as he slowly set the cup on the floor. Julien kept wiping tears from his eyes, mumbling things under his breath, and Pancho's heart broke a little to see what he'd put his boyfriend through. He gingerly shifted himself until he was even more upright, ignoring the pain that it took. Julien's sniffles had turned into small sobs by this point, and he had given up trying to conceal them, glancing at Pancho, his eyes filled with his fears. Pancho sat up a little straighter and extended an arm.

"Come here." He whispered softly. That was all it took. Julien dove towards him and buried his face in Pancho's chest, his shoulders shaking with sobs.

"I'm sorry." Pancho whispered as he held his boyfriend the best he could, Julien's shoulders shaking as he sobbed into his chest. "I didn't know what I was doing, I didn't mean to get hurt, or hurt you, I just got so angry," As Pancho spoke a few memories of the fight filtered back into his brain and he cringed. "That guy was real big. I'm pretty sure Horst and Willie saved my life somehow."

There was a slight pause in the shaking of Julien's shoulders as Pancho heard the king chuckle against his fur. "That's something I never thought I'd hear." Julien murmured, sniffing again.

Pancho rubbed circles into Julien's back to soothe him, stomach still churning with guilt. "I'm sorry Julio. I really am."

The ringtail's sobs eventually stilled, and Julien quickly wiped his eyes, mumbling something into Pancho's fur. He lifted his head to look Pancho in the eyes and frowned immediately. "I'm not mad at you, I was just, you know, worried." He reached out and wiped a few tears away from Pancho's cheeks, completely ignoring the injured state his boyfriend's face was in. Pancho was surprised at the contact. He hadn't even realised he'd been crying.

"That's okay." He muttered eventually. "I mean, neither of this really wanted this."

Julien giggled, and shifted so his head was lying more comfortably on Pancho's chest, one arm folded underneath it, his eyes gazing contentedly into Pancho's with a small smile. He reached out with the other paw and once once again smoothed his fingers through his boyfriend's fur in lazy circular motions. Pancho felt his guilt slowly ebb away to be replaced by the comfort of his mate's presence as Julien's fingertips stroked across the sensitive areas of his chest, avoiding his injuries.

"So you're going to be looking after me?" Pancho asked cheekily after a while of comfortable silence. Julien hummed, then chuckled at him. "Guess I better get used to this?"

"Oh definitely." Julien murmured shifting so he was closer to Pancho's face. "Do not worry, your fabulous king will take care of you." He leaned forwards and lightly kissed Pancho on the nose. "Even if your face is all messed up now, you are still the most handsome lemur in the kingdom."

Pancho chuckled, his cheeks heating comfortably beneath his fur. Maybe being stuck on his couch while everything healed wouldn't be such a bad thing after all. Except...

"I love you babe, but my ribs are only half healed and I really need you to move!"


End file.
